***Official*** Kenyan Domestic Season 2007/08

Having spent three weeks keeping thread of this going in another Thread and because unlike any other Non-test domestic league this will involve some FC cricket I figured I would open a thread on the matter

This thread is about the newly launched Sahara Elite League rather than the already existing NPCA, CCA and RVCA competitions and involves 4 franchises, The Eastern Aces, The Western Chiefs, The Northern Nomads, and the Southern Stars, plaing in T20, 50 overs and 3
day competitions. Squad Lists are avalibale here

Well so far all you have missed is the T20 competition in which The Steve Tikolo led Eastern Aces swept away all before them and the first round of the 50 over competition which started last week.

Results and fixtures from the all the competition are available on the Cricinfo Kenya site under Domestic competition as well as on Cricket Europe's Kenya site and on Cricket Archive

A couple of positions in the National team coming under intense competition with the likes of opening batsman David Maina making some big scores including a 75 in the last round. Rajesh Bhudia who initially got capped as a medium pacer has also got a 50 under his mane while some of the members of the u19 team that just narrowly missed out on qualifying for the recent World Cup have been in amongst the wickets ost notably Moses Otieno, Nelson Odhiambo.

What it interesting with this comp is how well some of the fringe players are playing. Certainly in the 20-20 series, there were several cases for a shake up of the national team were Kenya to be playing any 20-20 games in the near future.

Looks a pretty strong team on paper and pretty different from the one that represented Kenya in the WC. It will be interesting to see how much selectors do follow Cricket Kenya's claim that the national team selection will hinge upon good performances in the Elite leagues.

Several of the established players have however come back into their own in the One Day series so far.

Chiefs and Aces probably have the better run rate at the moment, but my pick is for the Nomads to be too good for the Stars and just edge it as I feel the Chiefs v Aces will be a close match.

It is great to see that the competition is much closer in this form of the game and is doing what Cricket Kenya set out to achieve. I just hope they can raise more sponsorship next time so that they can play 2 rounds - it would be so much more beneficial and also give a much better idea of who the best players are.

The weekend matches will be a blast but if the Chiefs top order can withstand the Stars pace bowlers who can blow hot and cold then the Stars could find themselves chasing an enormous total or simply not being able to protect whatever score they get. On the other hand the Stars will again be looking to Kennedy Obuya to set up a platform for their own innings and if he does not fire then they will be on the backfoot

The other game will see Kenya's main opening bowlers facing off as the Northern Nomads captained by Thomas Odoyo play against Peter Ongondo's Western Chiefs. This match could be dominated by the ball and if this is the case I am tipping the Nomads middle order to just about see them home.

The weekend matches will be a blast but if the Chiefs top order can withstand the Stars pace bowlers who can blow hot and cold then the Stars could find themselves chasing an enormous total or simply not being able to protect whatever score they get. On the other hand the Stars will again be looking to Kennedy Obuya to set up a platform for their own innings and if he does not fire then they will be on the backfoot

The other game will see Kenya's main opening bowlers facing off as the Northern Nomads captained by Thomas Odoyo play against Peter Ongondo's Western Chiefs. This match could be dominated by the ball and if this is the case I am tipping the Nomads middle order to just about see them home.

Well it seems players like Ashish Karia, Francis Otieno, Timothy Muange, Hafeez Manji, Malhar Patel, Kalpesh Patel are not good enough to play in the elite league. I cant wait for the three day, was hoping for four day games but i dont think our players have reached that standard to last that long. Anyway the three days games will
prepare our team before they depart to europe for the IC.

Well it seems players like Ashish Karia, Francis Otieno, Timothy Muange, Hafeez Manji, Malhar Patel, Kalpesh Patel are not good enough to play in the elite league. I cant wait for the three day, was hoping for four day games but i dont think our players have reached that standard to last that long. Anyway the three days games will
prepare our team before they depart to europe for the IC.

Actually Malhar and Kalpesh Patel are both listed as squad players in the Elite league although neither have managed a game. Malhar Patel is on the western Chief's player roster while Kalpesh Patel is listed as a Northern Nomads player. I do not even know if Timothy Muange is playing cricket any more. Goes to show how much a functioning youth system has changed outlook of Kenya's player base as most of these guys have been replaced by u15, u17 and u19 players.

It is noticeable how playing the Elite League has improved the consistency of the players when they go back to play for their clubs. Regards the youth system - this is still club based, but shows a real indicator of the potential if it can be organised centrally.

Ok my second attempt at a match preview after the last one went rather awry

Eastern Aces v. Western Chiefs

The Aces go into this match ona bit of a high having been recovered from an embarrassing 5 wicket defeat against the Northern Nomads with a more controlled batting performance against The Southern Stars winning by 5 wickets. If u19 wicket-keeper Mansukh Naran can replicate the vital anchor innings he played against the Stars the more aggressive stroke players such as Alex Obanda and Steve Tikolo could very well take the game away from the Chiefs, however the Chiefs do have enough fire power in their bowling,Led by National team strike bowler Peter Ongondo, to counter the Aces prolific batting line up.
For the Chiefs 22 year old David Maina continues to impress with the bat having taking over the opening slot for the injured Morris Ouma and scoring 103 runs in the first two games including and will be looking to lead from the front along with Wicket-keeper Jagdavi Jesani and Thomas Odoyo's younger sibling Ken Migai.

Northern Nomads v. Southern Stars

The Southern Stars come into this game knowing that an emphatic enough win could have them crowned champions of the 50 over tournament and would mark and impressive turnaround for the team that finished win less in the T20 version of the competition. They will hope that their top order of Kennedy Obuya, Peter Kituku and Amit Bhudia cans fire and make life somewhat easier for their bowling attack. The Nomads on the other having shot out the Eastern Aces for only 80 a fortnight ago will be confident that a similar show from their pace trio of Thomas Odoyo, Josephat Ababu and Alfred Luseno as well as Dominic Wesonga will be more than enough to overcome their opponents.

I agree with the way the results will go - Can't see the Nomads losing to the Stars somehow, though it would be good for the comp if the Stars can fire. A lot, possibly too much depends on one player for them. Hopefully Stewart Kayne gets a good score - despite his duck in the last game, I thought he was one of the most promising players in the 20-20 format despite hardly getting a real chance. Whichever way the result goes, I feel this will be a fairly big win.

Chiefs v Aces is harder to pick, especially if Ongondo makes inroads to the top order. If Aces lose Obanda and Tikolo cheaply, they have shown vulnerability, though Mepani is in cracking form at the moment. I think this will be close and as a result, whoever wins big in the other game will take the title.